Battle of the Titans
by Tristan Palmgren
Summary: My take on what the idea of a parallel universe Mobius *could* have meant, if only Archie had done it right. Be warned, though... this is a dark ride. Chapters 1 through 3 are up.
1. Backstab and Massacre

All Sonic characters and situations are © the Sega Corporation and DiC   
Productions. The characters and situations of Anti-Mobius are © Archie Comics.   
Bookshire Draftwood and Commander Packbell are the properties of David Pistone.  
  
Voluntarily rated PG-13 for strong language and plenty of violence.  
  
Battle of the Titans  
  
A Sonic the Hedgehog Story  
by Tristan Palmgren  
  
Every once in a while, the writers of the Archie comics come up with an idea that   
could potentially make for very powerful stories... even if, they are rip-offs of other   
stories. The parallel universe Sonic (the Antisonic) was one such idea that, even though   
lifted directly from a Star Trek episode, could have made some very compelling stories.   
Predictably, though, Archie managed to screw it up somewhere along the line, and the   
anti-universe characters lost any semblance of, well, character.  
  
What follows is my own interpretation of what the concept of an Anti-Mobius   
could have meant, retold from the very moment that the two universes and their   
inhabitants collide.  
  
Timeline:  
Sometime between the cartoon episodes "Blast to the Past" and "The Doomsday   
Machine".  
  
Chapter One:  
Backstab and Massacre  
  
A voice crackled through radio interference.   
  
"I will kill you."  
  
Two almost identical red biplanes soared along the wide, winding channels and   
muddy-brown cliff sides of the canyon, leaving only red streaks of light and columns of   
disturbed air in their wake. A gloved hand took itself away from the Freedom Stormer's   
steering column and slapped down on the radio's 'transmit' button.  
  
"Buzz off, leatherhead," Sonic shot back. "I've never lost a race yet, and I don't   
plan to start now." His hand fell back to the steering column just in time to wrench it hard   
to the right. The biplane deftly swerved to its starboard side, just missing one of the cliff   
wall's many overhangs.  
  
The second biplane swooped down from overheard, matching speeds with the   
Freedom Stormer and dropping down to its altitude. The two planes flew side-to-side,   
almost clipping wingtips against each other.  
  
"But then again, you've never raced yourself, have you?"  
  
The second biplane dipped in the Freedom Stormer's direction, smashing the two   
wings together. The passenger compartment was jarred sharply; both of Sonic's   
passengers planted their hands firmly against the roof to avoid being bucked around. The   
hedgehog barred his teeth, and managed to keep his own plane steady.  
  
The other biplane, like Sonic's own, and its name painted on the red body of the   
passenger compartment. It, too, read "Freedom Stormer," albeit for completely different   
reasons.  
  
"Poor, poor Freedom Fighter," the other voice chided. "So much at stake. So   
much to lose, so little to gain." The biplanes coasted underneath another overhang, wings   
bashing against each other again. "How can you stand the pressure?"  
  
"He's just trying to goad you," the shotgun-side passenger warned him. "Don't   
answer."  
  
"Is he always this annoying?" Sonic growled.  
  
The biplane shook as a strong updraft whirred through the canyon. Sonic fought   
with the flight stick, struggling to keep his biplane from slamming into the cliff.  
  
"How long until we reach the end of the canyon?" Sonic asked.  
  
"At your speed, I'd say maybe three minutes before we hit the end. From there on   
out, we'll be flying over Mobotropolis," the passenger seated in the rear answered. Her   
voice twisted in distaste, and she turned to her companion in the front seat. "You know, I   
didn't sign up with you for this bullshit."  
  
"Worry about your money later," came the angry reply.  
  
The radio unit came to life again, and the static-distorted voice burst through it. "I   
want you to see something, *Sonic*," the voice spat his name, as if didn't belong to   
person he was addressing. "We're sending a video feed on an open channel. Have Nicole   
- your Nicole - tune in."  
  
Sonic's hand again hit the radio's transmit button. "I swear, if you touch them,   
I'll-"  
  
"You'll what?" Laughter echoed through the radio: a short, hideous hiss that   
sounded more suited to Ivo Robotnik then the familiar voice that created it. "Tune in.   
You'll like it."  
  
Sonic risked a glance towards his front passenger, and held out his hand. Princess   
Sally's hand-held computer, Nicole, was placed in it. With one hand, he flipped the   
computer open and propped it up against the dashboard.  
  
The twin biplanes turned at forty-five degree angles to follow the rocky canyon as   
it twisted along a sharp turn. Hands were once again planted on the ceiling to keep from   
being thrown to the side of the plane.  
  
"INCOMING MESSAGE, BLUE-STREAK MY MAN," Nicole reported,   
monotone. Sonic could almost *hear* his rear-seat passenger rolling her eyes.  
  
Sonic kept his eyes glued to the Freedom Stormer's front window, eyes scanning   
ahead along the canyon. To his left, he saw the other biplane peel up and away. It fell   
slightly behind him, but kept pace after that.  
  
"Play it," he said. "But keep it small, just on the dashboard. I still need to see."  
  
A hologram image flickered into existence just above Nicole. The person in the   
passenger seat gasped. Sonic risked taking his eyes away the canyon for just a moment,   
and when he looked at it he saw...  
  
Time froze.  
  
He saw a blackened husk of a village, some of the huts charred by flames, some   
just wrecked, other still spewing smoke into the air. There were bodies, too many bodies,   
and too much blood. It flowed across the dirt and grass like a newborn stream. His own   
hut had been torn down, its contents still flaming. Fire shot skyward.  
  
This had once been a haven, called Knothole.  
  
"Direct feed from your universe," the voice boasted.  
  
Sonic's lower lip trembled. Gods... he saw Bunnie's metallic left arm,   
disconnected from her body, covered with the coppery sheen of blood and discarded into   
one of the piles of rubble. It took another moment for him to find her body, strewn across   
the ground amongst other former villagers. Her arm wasn't the only limb missing. Her   
mouth was hanging open, screaming endlessly, her eyes staring lifelessly at the smoky sky   
above the village.  
  
"No..." he felt his breath seize in his chest and his eyes tear over. Disbelief was   
overcome by the surreal familiarity of the image. That had to be Knothole...  
  
The camera feed changed, showing a different angle of the village. This one was   
closer to the power ring pool. The shores were dyed a faint red, as blood from the village   
dripped downhill and into the pond. Fire still licked skyward, and there were more bodies   
over here. Some of them were recognizable. Lupe had the most horrible expression   
frozen in her unmoving eyes.  
  
"Oh, god," Sonic choked.  
  
"Sonic, the canyon!" the rear-seat passenger shouted. A cliff wall was coming   
dangerously close. He didn't move.  
  
An arm reached across from the passenger seat and grabbed the steering column,   
keeping it somewhat steady.  
  
Sonic's eyes were still riveted on the Knothole massacre, not seeing or hearing   
anything else. He saw pale imitations of people he once knew march through the blazes,   
setting fire to whatever wasn't burning already. Soldiers from the other universe, the one   
that Sonic had found himself trapped in.  
  
Faintly, Sonic grabbed the steering column, and hit the radio transmitter again.  
  
His voice was cracked, and sounded weak. "Y-you son of a bitch... you said you   
wouldn't hurt them."  
  
"Hah! And you believed me, too!"  
  
A snarl suddenly rose in Sonic's throat. On the camera image, still in place nearby   
the power ring pool, he saw another body. A smaller one, staring up at the sky as the   
others had. There were the faintest traces of tears in his still-open eyes... his two tails   
were propped up underneath his head, like a pillow. A jagged slash across the kitsune's   
chest was still dripping blood into the dirt.  
  
"He was ten years old!" Sonic burst out, yelling because he would break down in   
sobs if he didn't do anything else. His voice choked again.  
  
"Yup," the voice responded cheerfully. "Now he'll be ten years old forever."  
  
"You son of a BITCH!"  
  
Sonic lost control of himself. He felt his hands jam the flight stick downwards, and   
the biplane dove sharply. When it came back up again, the top of the Freedom Stormer   
slammed into the bottom of the other biplane. Both shook violently, and threatened to fall   
from the sky.  
  
Both pilots struggled to maintain control of their planes.  
  
Sonic guided the Freedom Stormer into a position directly alongside the other   
plane, and slammed the flight stick to the side. Both biplanes slammed against each other   
once more. The Freedom Stormer's structure screamed, threatening to fly apart. Pieces   
of wood flew off the wing.  
  
"Stop it! You'll kill us all!" the rear-seat passenger shouted.  
  
The other biplane rattled visibly, then fell back again, into the same position   
directly behind the Freedom Stormer. When it had managed to steady its plane, the voice   
came back on through the radio.  
  
"But, wait," it said, "I'm not done showing you everything yet. You know, not all   
of the Freedom Fighters are dead... yet... not your beloved Princess Sally."  
  
The camera view changed once again. The power ring pool was yet again visible   
in the background, but now it was distant. Sally was kneeling on the ground, her face   
covered up by her hands. Her chest was shaking... sobbing silently.  
  
Bunnie was standing in the background... not the Bunnie he knew. This one   
wasn't half-mechanical. This Bunnie was from the other universe, and was the antithesis   
of everything the Bunnie he knew stood for. This was the Antibunnie. Instead of her   
usual purple jumpsuit, a professional sewn leather jacket was thrown around her shoulders   
as clothing.  
  
"All in all, I'm surprised you fell for it," the voice continued. "It was very   
obvious... we take your village hostage, and I challenge you to a race to lure you out into   
the open. If I win, we kill all your friends. If you win, you all go free, right? I really   
thought that you would figure out that we would annihilate your Knothole anyway."  
  
Sally looked up and saw the camera. Her eyes were bloodshot; she shook her   
head. "Oh, god, Sonic... we lost everything!"  
  
"Bunnie," the voice addressed the rabbit in the background. "The time has come."  
  
"No..." the passenger-seat rider breathed.  
  
"Shore thing," the Antibunnie smiled, her accent a sadistic imitation of the real   
Bunnie's sweet twang. "Stand up, sugar." A knife glinted in her hand.  
  
"Don't do it, Sal!" Sonic shouted into the hologram, not caring whether or not   
Sally could hear him or not.  
  
"Sonic... there's nothing we can do," Sally whispered sadly. A tear formed in her   
eye, and she didn't bother to blink it away. Sally stood up, looked down at the ground,   
and waited.  
  
The voice on the radio chuckled for a moment. "Join your friends."  
  
Bunnie lunged forward suddenly, her biological left hand thrusting something into   
Sally's back. Sally staggered forward, managing to stay on her feet for another moment,   
and then fell to her knees again.  
  
"Sally!" Sonic shouted, choking on his sobs again.  
  
Her face looked up at the camera for a final, desperate moment. The tip of the   
blade had emerged at the very center of her chest... blood dripped from the wound,   
flowing down the length of her body and onto the ground.  
  
Her face screwed up in effort, and she coughed violently. Her eyes met Sonic's   
one last time. "Don't let them kill you, too," she rasped.  
  
Then her eyes rolled upwards, and her body fell.  
  
The camera feed cut off.  
  
Sonic's eyes stared forward, feeling just as lifeless as the bodies he had seen   
moments ago.  
  
"You've already lost what you hope to win," the voice on the radio taunted.   
"Why not just give up now and make it easier for all of us? See those cliff walls? Crash   
your plane into them, and be together with your Princess. Forever."  
  
Sonic's trembling hands gripped the flight stick tightly. A sob escaped his throat.   
"Never."  
  
As if he could hear Sonic, even though he hadn't pressed activated the transmitter,   
the voice spoke again. "Oh, please. You know we were all really after you when we   
invaded Knothole. But you weren't there; you were in hiding on our world. So we   
offered a race, but that was just bait. Now we really have you, *Sonic*," the voice spat   
the name again. "One way or another, you will die today."  
  
Sonic slapped down the transmit button. Anger was gone. Shock was the only   
thing that filled his mind. He empty, like a void. "Why do all this?"  
  
He could hear the other speaker's hesitation to the question, as if he didn't really   
know. "Power, of course. Why only control one Knothole when you can conquer   
another and have two?"  
  
"You wiped it out!" the passenger-seat rider shouted. "That's not conquering!   
That's not power!"  
  
"Fine," the voice sighed. "I'll let you in on an little secret. It was too fun to pass   
up."  
  
The other biplane accelerated slowly until the nose nudged the rear of the Freedom   
Stormer. The biplane shook, but Sonic absently wrestled with the steering column until it   
steadied.  
  
The radio burst to life again. "That voice is too familiar. Is that Commander   
Packbell riding with you, Sonic?"  
  
Emotional consciousness was slowly returning to Sonic. He barred his teeth, and a   
growl formed low in his throat. Vengeance, first, he decided. He would... he didn't   
know he would do if he survived this. Death sounded all too welcome right now. But   
first... vengeance.  
  
"One minute until the canyon system ends," the rear-seat passenger noted quietly.  
  
"This is too perfect," the voice hissed, almost lustily. "Two of my problems   
solved. You, *Sonic*, dead, as well as the android commander of the Mobotropolis   
Police force. Too perfect."  
  
"You're too late, Sonic," Packbell spoke into the radio. "I've already sent   
Knothole's coordinates ahead to Mobotropolis," the android lied. "The Feds will be   
swarming your hidey-hole in minutes. You'll pay for all those murders, I can promise you   
that." Sonic could tell what Packbell was thinking: 'Even if the victims aren't from this   
universe.'.  
  
"You would have sent them... if the Freedom Stormer had a radio unit capable of   
patching into the bands your police forces use. Which it doesn't. Keep in mind, I have an   
almost identical plane, Commander."  
  
The nose of the other plane rammed into the Freedom Stormer again, sharply it   
sharply forward. The biplane dove towards the floor of the canyon, but pulled back up   
again. The Freedom Stormer's wingtips clipped against an outcropping of rock, shaking   
the passenger compartment again.  
  
Sonic jammed the steering column upwards, and the biplane regained altitude. His   
jaw hurt from being clenched shut so long.  
  
"I don't think that you built these planes with ramming in mind," the rear-seat   
passenger said. "Be careful. I'm not dying until I get paid."  
  
Packbell, in this universe not a Commander in Robotnik's army but a police officer   
working for King Acorn, swiveled around to face the rear seats. "Would you can it,   
Nicole?"  
  
"When I get paid," the rear-seat passenger, another android, shot back.  
  
Sonic, his mind still back on the image of Knothole, deftly flew the Freedom   
Stormer around another curve in the canyon, and avoided another ramming attempt from   
the other biplane. Vengeance, he thought, means staying alive long enough to enact it.  
  
The other biplane surged dangerously forward again, just barely missing colliding   
with the Freedom Stormer.  
  
"Thirty seconds," the rear-seat passenger noted emotionlessly. Sonic knew that   
the canyon would end suddenly ahead in a sheer cliff wall, just around the next turn.  
  
"Let me get a good look at you," the voice on the radio crackled. The pilot threw   
the throttle forward, again almost slamming into Sonic's plane. Only a quick move on   
Sonic's part saved him from another bone-rattling collision. Instead, the two biplanes   
raced pulled up to one another and raced through the canyon side-by-side.  
  
"Why delay the inevitable?" the voice asked, conveying every emotion that Sonic   
had never felt -- they all could be summed up in one word: heartless.  
  
His tear-filled gaze fell across to the other biplane, and he saw its pilot.   
  
It was like staring into a circus mirror. The blue-quilled hedgehog that stared back   
was the culmination of everything in his life that he had come to despise. The eyes, barely   
visible through a pair of dark sunglasses, sparkled with angry intensity. Sonic saw his   
opponent's jubilation at the death of his friends... he enjoyed the killing. His face bent   
into a sadistic leer that would have done Robotnik proud.  
  
The hedgehog flying the other biplane was the personification of every morbid   
thought of Sonic's unconsciousness. It was a face that had performed every action that   
Sonic had thought of in his darkest moments. His enemy was the wickedness hidden in   
himself.  
  
"I will kill you."  
  
The biplanes rounded the corner, and Sonic could see the rock wall that marked   
the end of the canyon in the distance. The other plane nudged itself closer, its wingtips   
coming over the tops of the Freedom Stormer's wings.  
  
"Pull up," the rear-seat passenger, the Antinicole, said nervously. The cliff wall   
was coming closer.  
  
Sonic shoved the steering column upwards, but to no avail. The cabin only rattled   
and screeched in protest; the other plane's wings, firmly atop the Freedom Stormer's   
wings, were keeping it from pulling up.  
  
"Join your Princess Sally," the voice whispered alluringly. "Throw your plane into   
the cliff walls, or I'll do it for you."  
  
Sonic glanced over at his counterpart again. The other Sonic was grinning widely,   
as if gleefully anticipating the other biplane's death. The two planes' wings were still   
locked together, unable to pull up and away from the approaching wall.  
  
An image flashed through Sonic's mind: Sally staggering forward, clutching at her   
chest. The dagger had penetrated her back and the tip was sticking through her ribcage.   
He saw her pleading eyes one last time.  
  
"Go to hell," he whispered, and thrust his biplane to the left. The wings slid across   
each other, the other biplane's going wide and high, whereas the Freedom Stormer's wing   
slammed directly into the passenger cabin of the other craft. Both planes shook, but Sonic   
kept his altitude.  
  
The other biplane spun away, almost slamming into the canyon wall, but saving   
itself at the last instant. Sonic could see his counterpart gritting his teeth and wresting   
frantically with the cockpit controls.  
  
"Pull up!"  
  
Without thinking, Sonic pitched the plane sharply upwards, and flew up and out of   
the canyon. The blurred outlines of the rock walls to both sides disappeared, replaced by   
the cloudy blue of open air. Below, mud-brown rock faded into bright green vegetation.  
  
The other biplane soared above the canyon, the bottom of his biplane nicking   
against the top of the cliff wall. A horrible scraping noise filled the air, and the craft   
shook, but it recovered.  
  
"That was a mistake," the other Sonic growled. His biplane fell into place behind   
Sonic's.  
  
Ahead, silhouetted against the setting sun, Sonic could just barely discern the   
outlines of several tall buildings. Dwarfing them all was the pyramid structure that was   
King Max Acorn's castle. The city of Mobotropolis lay dead ahead.  
  
Sonic had still been trying to grapple with all the facts the last time he had seen the   
city, and he was no less confused now. From what Commander Packbell had told him, in   
this world there had been no Great War, and therefore no need for a Minister of War. The   
King had never been in a position where one of his underlings could have backstabbed   
him: the coup had never happened on this world. The Royal House of Acorn was still in   
power, and all the planet's citizens were free.  
  
Unfortunately, every person he knew had a duplicate on this world, and they were   
always the opposite of what he knew in his world. On this world, instead of banding   
together as Freedom Fighters and fighting a tyrant from Knothole, Sonic and his friends   
had become terrorists. In this world, the inhabitants of Knothole had dedicated   
themselves to removing King Acorn and seizing his power for themselves.  
  
And once the portal had been opened a week ago, linking the Knotholes of the two   
worlds, the terrorists of this world had stopped at nothing to kill the Freedom Fighters.  
  
They were insane.  
  
"The hedgehog's getting angry, is he?" the voice on the radio taunted. "Have his   
friends' deaths really affected him that much?"  
  
Sonic heard Sally's last words echo in his head. "Don't let them kill you, too," he   
whispered.  
  
"You can still join them, you know," the voice continued. "All it takes is one   
sharp push down on the steering wheel... do it. You know you want to end it, now. You   
can't live without them."  
  
Packbell glared at the radio, and then quickly reached across and shut it off. The   
voice died in mid-sentence. "We don't need to hear *that* anymore," he said.  
  
Sonic only looked ahead, at the slowly growing outline of Mobotropolis. "Oh,   
Sal..."  
  
***  
  
Sonic's counterpart glared through his sunglasses at the biplane ahead of him, and   
barred his teeth again. They had shut off their radio. "So he doesn't want to play   
anymore," he mused.  
  
Keeping his eye on the biplane and keeping pace directly behind it, Sonic switched   
his biplane's radio to a different frequency, and hit the transmit button.  
  
"They made it out. I need you to be ready."  
  
Another voice crackled into being on the radio, this one just barely intelligible   
through the static. It sounded distant. It was Rotor's voice. "They made it out? I   
thought you said for sure that-"  
  
"Look, fuck you too, Rote," Sonic snarled. "I didn't do it. I still need you to be   
ready."  
  
"So the hedgehog finally fails at something," Rotor laughed. Sonic's scowl   
deepened; he hated it when the walrus was difficult. "I never thought I'd see the day."  
  
"Hey, Rote, you remember that Amy Rose girl that was always following me   
around? Remember how I snapped her neck? That's what I'll do to you if you don't   
GET ready!" Sonic snapped.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Rotor grumbled. "All right. I've hijacked one of Mobotropolis's   
ground-based laser turrets. They'll get a big surprise when they fly over the city."  
  
"Good. And keep your damn mouth shut." Sonic switched his own radio unit off.   
That walrus was getting too smart for his own good.  
  
Slowly, he increased his biplane's speed. Now, the only challenge would be in   
making sure his counterpart got close enough to the city.  
  
***  
  
The biplanes roared through the air, picking up speed and approaching the city.  
  
"I know this won't make you feel any better, but... on behalf of the Royal House   
of Acorn and the City-State of Mobotropolis, I'd like to apologize for the criminal portion   
of our population." Packbell tapped his uniform's badge. "I can assure you that your   
friends' murders will not go unpunished. I've been after these Knothole punks for years,   
and thanks to you, I finally know where their hide-out is."  
  
Sonic tossed a glance back towards his counterpart's plane. It was still keeping its   
distance to the rear. "Thanks, Packbell," Sonic sniffed. "You know, you're really not   
such a bad guy in this world." He looked at the mute Nicole, the hand-held computer   
from his world - not the android in the rear-seat - and choked up again. "Sal..."  
  
The two passengers remained quiet. The buzzing of the Freedom Stormer's   
engine filled the void, and Mobotropolis inched closer and closer.  
  
"We still have a problem," Packbell said at last, hiking a thumb towards the tailing   
biplane. "He's still following us. Any ideas on how to shake him?"  
  
"A way to escape," Sonic said quietly, almost a whisper. "There's always been a   
way to escape."  
  
"Not this stupid moping again!" the rear-seat Nicole mumbled, shaking her head.   
She, like Packbell, was fitted with an android body. She appeared to be a ground squirrel,   
and could have passed as an exact replica of Sally except for several streaks of neon-green   
fur on her sides, and a crowning tuft of electrical violet hair.  
  
"Can it, Nicole," Packbell said again.  
  
"Every time we've been in trouble," Sonic continued, oblivious, "We've always   
found a way out." He buried his head in his hand, resting it against the steering column.   
The plane shook briefly. "Not this time..."  
  
"I'm sorry, I really am," Packbell said with a sincerity that would have been   
completely alien to his otherworld counterpart. "But we have to keep moving, or-"  
  
"Far be it for-" Nicole interjected.  
  
"Can it, Nicole!" Packbell shouted.  
  
"No escape," Sonic went on. He looked up bleakly, eyes bloodshot. "Nothing left   
to fight for."  
  
"*Far* be it for me to interrupt," Nicole said again, more forcefully, "But I think I   
may have thought of a way out." She leaned forward, placing her hand on Sonic's   
shoulder. Surprisingly, the android's fur was warm to the touch. "It may even save your   
friends."  
  
Sonic looked back angrily. "Not funny, Nicole." Anger returned to him. "I've   
just about had enough of your sense of humor!"  
  
Nicole ignored him, and turned to Packbell. "Fine, I'll tell it to you. But I'm   
expecting extra pay."  
  
Packbell's glare could have frozen fire.  
  
She smiled sweetly, almost sarcastically. "Remember those artifacts you dragged   
me out to look for? The ones you still haven't paid me for?"  
  
Sonic's head again fell down to the steering column, and he hid his eyes in his   
hands. Below the plane, the suburbs of Mobotropolis began to appear.  
  
Packbell nodded quickly, looking ready to kill. "What about them?" Packbell's   
police department had hired the android Nicole as a tracker a few days ago, to recover   
some hidden artifacts that King Acorn felt would be the Knothole terrorists' next target.   
Packbell and Nicole had just returned from some archeological expedition when Sonic had   
found them a week ago.  
  
"When we found them, we didn't know what they were supposed to be used for,   
right. The *generous*," she spoke the word laden with venom, "King Acorn refused to   
tell us what they were."  
  
"Would you get to a point?" Packbell snapped.  
  
Nicole smiled again, not so sweetly. "I've been doing some research on my own.   
Have you heard some of the rumors about them?"  
  
Packbell frowned. "Yeah, I've checked into it. The rumors are frankly ridiculous;   
I don't know what Max was thinking."  
  
Sonic looked up from the steering column, frowning. Something didn't seem   
right. He looked back again. The other biplane was still maintaining its distance. "What   
artifacts?" he asked, glum yet curious.  
  
"The ones Packbell and his band of merry men hired me to find. We ended up   
going to some floating island out in the middle of frickin' nowhere."  
  
"Floating... island?" Sonic's mind was jumpstarted by her words.  
  
"Yeah, we got there, and finally found the damn stones. Then some ridiculously   
large owl appears from nowhere and tries to ask us a riddle." Sonic's eyes slowly   
widened as Nicole kept going. "Damn fool. It tried to attack us when we left. So I shot   
it right in the middle of the eyes with a laser submachine gun." She laughed. "Bet it   
didn't see that one coming."  
  
"Holy shit," Sonic muttered.  
  
"So anyway, one of the rumors floating around about these stones is that they're   
capable of traveling-"  
  
"Back through time!" Sonic finished for her. Packbell noticed that his white eyes   
were now the size of dinner plates.  
  
"Hey, yeah, you've heard about them?" Nicole asked.  
  
"I've used them!" Sonic turned back in his seat to face Nicole. "I could kiss you!"  
  
"Holy hells," Packbell said quietly. "You've used them?" Sonic nodded quickly,   
eyes still bloodshot.  
  
"I guess it's true, then, what you said," Nicole's android face split into a grin.   
"There *is* always a way out."  
  
Sonic looked ahead again, at the approaching city. **It's true, Sally...** he   
thought, **What you said is true... there's always a way to fight. All you have to find   
it**.  
  
Nicole frowned, and reached into the pouch of a backpack she had strapped to her   
back. She withdrew two carved rocks. "I take it, then, that you know *how* to use   
them?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah, sure, you just hold two of them together and concentrate on where   
you want to go." He looked out towards Mobotropolis. They were almost upon the   
borders of the city. "There's always a way to fight..." he trailed off.  
  
Packbell looked at the biplane's pilot, then back at Nicole. "Are you two sure   
about this? What happens when the stones touch? What'll go back with them?"  
  
"I think," Sonic frowned, trying to retrieve ancient memories from the fog of   
sorrow and sudden excitement in his mind, "that anything in a certain radius of the Time   
Stones will get sucked in with it. The entire plane, pretty much."  
  
"Oh, great," Packbell said doubtfully.  
  
"Look at this way," Sonic said. "It's a chance. That's all this hedgehog needs."  
  
"I still think we should try and land in Mobotropolis first," Packbell said, "and   
figure out what to do from-"  
  
The air outside the plane suddenly lit with an electric blue fire, and the plane shook   
with thunder. It was like lightning had struck only meters away from the hull of the plane.  
  
"What the hell-"  
  
Packbell looked out his window, towards the ground below. A ground turret's   
cannon, normally facing the ground while inactive, was leveled directly at the biplane.   
"That was laser fire!" he exclaimed.  
  
Sonic grabbed the steering column with new energy, and threw it quickly aside.   
The plane's course skewed sharply to the right just as another blast of laser energy seared   
through the air nearby.  
  
"Mobotropolis's ground turrets are firing on us!" Packbell shouted angrily. "They   
must have found a way to commandeer one of them."  
  
Sonic's risked a glance at the Mobotropolis Police officer. "You were saying   
something about landing in the city?"  
  
"Never mind what I said," he grimaced. He turned again, to face Nicole. "We   
have to do it, then."  
  
Sonic nodded, and executed a sharp port turn just as the thunder blast of another   
laser bolt shook the plane, burning through the air where the Freedom Stormer had been   
just an instant before.  
  
"You two, combine the stones!" he shouted above the deafening rumble of the   
laser cannon. There was something to fight for again. Sonic jerked the steering column,   
and the plane maneuvered again. "I'll try and keep us alive!" Another laser bolt came,   
closer this time.  
  
Nicole anxiously eyed the carved rocks in her hands, and then looked outside as   
the turret fired yet again. She tossed one of the stones to Packbell.  
  
Together, they slammed the Time Stones against each other, both fitting together   
perfectly well. Nothing happened.  
  
"Concentrate on where you want to go," Sonic ordered.  
  
"Uh, where do we want to go?" Nicole had raise her voice above another laser.  
  
"My world! A week ago! Before the first portal between the dimensions opened!"  
  
Nicole closed her eyes, and began repeating the target date and destination over   
and over. Packbell shrugged, and did the same.  
  
Yellow arcs of energy shot outwards from the Time Stones, engulfing the   
passenger cabin of the Freedom Stormer.  
  
The biplane shook as one of the turret gun's lasers finally struck its target, tearing   
through the Freedom Stormer's port-side wing and snapping it in half. The steering   
column seized up, and the biplane began to tumble helplessly downward.  
  
The Time Stones grew brighter and brighter, until finally the biplane was engulfed   
in light. The world outside seemed to grow fainter, and white-hot, until it finally   
disappeared.  
  
"I'm comin' for you, Sal!"  
  



	2. Emergence

  
Chapter 2:  
Emergence  
  
  
*** Robotropolis, One Week Earlier ***  
  
  
"So what's the big emergency, Unc?" Sonic tapped his foot impatiently on the   
ground, kicking up dust on the dirt floor.  
  
"I don't know, Sonny, that's why I called you." Chuck gestured towards Sally.   
"I was actually hoping Nicole might be able to shed some light on what I've found."  
  
Sonic, Sally Acorn, and Bunnie Rabbot were inside Sir Charles's hideout,   
concealed deep within the piles of junk in Robotropolis's largest trash dump. Charles   
himself was sitting aside one of the many computers in the room, his headphones still   
connected to the device. It was tapped into a bug placed just outside Robotnik's control   
room. Sonic stood next to his Uncle's chair, while Sally stared at several of the devices   
and frowned. Bunnie was seated in a corner, silent but listening intently.  
  
"So what have you found?" Sonic asked anxiously.  
  
"Robotnik's been busy in his lab for the past several days, so I haven't managed   
to find out what he's been doing. However, when I have seen him, he was terribly   
excited. I think something big's going down, guys."  
  
Sonic grimaced. "So that's it? Robotnik starts acting jumpy, and you call us   
down here?"  
  
"Huh?" Chuck looked away from his computer for a moment. "No, no, of course   
not. I've also found this." He punched a few buttons on the keyboard, and one of the   
blank monitors began to glow with life. An array of numbers appeared on the screen,   
blinking and constantly changing in almost random patterns.  
  
"And that is..."  
  
"These are charts of the energy emissions continually coming from Robotnik's   
lab. I know it looks like gibberish to you, Sonny, but trust me, these are unusual."   
Chuck's metal finger tapped the display, indicating several series of numbers. They   
blinked and changed in a pattern. "Several of the higher frequencies-"  
  
"You're starting to sound like Nicole, Unc."  
  
"Listen for a moment, Sonic! Several of the higher frequencies are fluctuating in   
harmonics... it's almost the exact pattern you would need to create something like a   
hologram, except on a much larger scale..." Chuck trailed off when he saw the look of   
utter perplexity on Sonic's face.  
  
"I think I know what you're talking about, Sir Charles," Sally interjected. "Sonic,   
don't you remember anything Julayla taught us?"  
  
"Of course not, Sally," Sonic said bluntly.  
  
"Fine. Try and follow along. Any form of energy that travels in a wave - light,   
radio, sound, etcetera - can be made to transmit in harmonic frequencies. Harmonics are   
what make those bands so easy for us to manipulate. Nicole, for instance, transmits   
several frequencies of light and harmonizes them, so she can manipulate the light and   
create holograms. She only has tiny speakers, too, so she creates and manipulates sound   
harmonics to make her voice louder."  
  
Sonic wasn't listening. "Keep going," he yawned.  
  
Sally groaned. "What this means is that Robotnik's trying to manipulate some   
kind of energy band in his lab, so that he can use it for his own purposes."  
  
*That* much, Sonic understood. "Sounds mondo ugly."  
  
"It could be," Uncle Chuck said. "I haven't been able to figure out what he's   
been trying to manipulate, though. In my limited experience with harmonics, I've never   
seen anything like this pattern. That's why I asked you to bring Nicole, Sally."  
  
"Right." Sally bent down, and unclipped the hand-held computer from her belt.   
It obediently flipped open.  
  
"READY, SALLY."  
  
She held Nicole's case up to Chuck's frantically flashing computer monitor.   
"Nicole, scan through these numbers and tell me what the energy levels indicate."  
  
Nicole paused for a moment, then spoke again. "THE RADIATED ENERGIES   
ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE ASSOCIATED-"  
  
Sonic scowled.  
  
"-WITH THE VOID."  
  
Bunnie gasped. "The Void? Y'all mean that place where Ari was sucked into?"  
  
Sally took Nicole away from the monitor, and nodded sadly. "And where   
Daddy..." she was unable to finish.  
  
Bunnie stood up, and walked over to join Sally. "But Ah thought that Robotnik   
didn't want to touch the Void. Isn't he deathly afraid of Ixis Naugus?"  
  
"I know, it doesn't make any sense..." She held Nicole up again. "Any   
explanations, Nicole?"  
  
"THE FREQUENCIES ARE *SIMILAR*" Nicole stressed. "THEY ARE NOT   
AN EXACT MATCH."  
  
Sonic was still trying to make sense of this, but had deciphered enough to have a   
general idea of what was going on. "You were right, Unc. This is important."  
  
"Thank you for bring this to our attention, Sir Charles," Sally said, genuinely   
grateful. "If there's any chance of rescuing my fa- the King, then we have to take it."  
  
"That's right, Sally-girl," Bunnie said. "I say we do it."  
  
"First we have to know where we're going." Sally frowned. "As I recall...  
Robotnik's lab, the one in his castle, is heavily guarded. SWATbots at every entrance,   
and more available to cut off an escape route if anything goes wrong."  
  
"No prob, not for the hedgehog," Sonic grinned.  
  
"But we shouldn't have to tangle with them," Sally finished. "Like almost   
everything in Robotropolis, there's plenty of air ducts connecting everything that we can   
sneak through. We just have to find one of them."  
  
Sally scratched her chin for a moment, and then she remembered one of her   
father's last gifts. She had found it almost a year ago, in the Dark Swamp's Ironlocke   
Prison. It was a map of Robotropolis's underground tunnels and duct systems.  
  
"Nicole, pull up file 'Sub-Ter'. We have a plan!"  
  
***  
  
"Snively!"  
  
Snively squeaked, and spun around. He hadn't seen Robotnik come up behind   
him. The fat man glared down at him, red eyes burning. He looked angry.  
  
"Y-yes, sir?" he said subserviently, hands folded in front of him. Years ago, he   
had learned that the best technique to avoid another beating was to look as harmless as   
possible. Of course, when a person was as unpredictable as Robotnik, he had found   
sometimes that the very act of *looking* harmless could provoke another violent   
outburst. This happened less often, though.  
  
Robotnik's index finger was leveled downwards at Snively's face, like it was a   
loaded weapon. "When will the emitter be operational?"  
  
"Oh, just a few more minutes," Snively looked up Robotnik's angry metal fist,   
"sir!"  
  
The anger flooded off of his uncle's face, and Snively felt his shoulders sag in   
relief. "That's very good, Snively. Very good."  
  
"Yes, sir," Snively agreed, turning back to the laboratory computers. Robotnik   
had placed him in charge of overseeing the construction of test emitter machine. In the   
room beyond, visible through a plate glass window, roboticized worker bots swarmed   
machine the size of a table. Their forms blocked the view of the exposed piles of circuit   
boards and tubing, but two large glass-like prongs shot out from the side of the machine,   
pointing towards an empty wall.  
  
Robotnik paced the room for a while, then he found a chair large enough to   
support his immense form and sat down. "This is really starting to excite me, Snively.   
Can you imagine the prospect?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Snively said again, doing his best to fake anticipation.  
  
"Whole other worlds are out there, Snively..." he chuckled for a moment. "Why,   
just think of what we could do if we set up mining facilities on one other world? Just one   
more? We'd have twice as much mineral resources!"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Why, we could finish the construction of the Doomsday Project in half the   
time!"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Robotnik's face twisted into anger, demonstrating to Snively once more just how   
volatile his uncle's moods could be. "STOP saying 'yes, sir', Snively!"  
  
Snively squealed. "Uh... of course I will, sir!"  
  
Robotnik frowned, and growled. "Have you also taken a look at the schematics   
I've sent you? My plans for an improved emitter device?"  
  
Snively ground his teeth. "Oh... no, sir. I'm afraid I didn't have the time, so I   
forwarded them to Commander Packbell, and told him to look at them."  
  
"Snively," Robotnik said testily, "Are you saying that my schematics aren't   
*worth* your time?"  
  
Snively's eyes widened, recognizing the trap when he saw it. "No, sir!" he   
exclaimed. "It's just that I, uh, I mean that, well I've been so busy assembling the first   
emitter, sir! But Commander Packbell said he'll be done reviewing it any minute now!"  
  
"For your sake, I hope you're right. After you finish building this one, I want my   
new schematics implemented immediately!"  
  
"Yes, s-" Snively stopped himself, "Of course, sir."  
  
Snively turned back to the computer, trembling. As he did, he caught a glimpse   
of another human form standing in the doorway. For once, he was glad to see   
Commander Packbell. The android was as annoying, and as cruel, as all hell, but at the   
very least he was punctual.  
  
"Ah, Packbell," Robotnik greeted his 'son' sweetly. "Have *you* finished   
looking over the new emitter schematics?"  
  
"Yep, and once more I have to compliment you on your technical brilliance."  
  
Robotnik grinned widely, flashing his ludicrously square-shaped teeth. **Suck-  
up**, Snively sneered to himself.  
  
"If we implement your new design, we should be able to reduce energy   
expenditures and circuitry size for the next model. We may even be able to make an   
emitter hand-held, about the size of a fist, instead of," Packbell indicated Snively's   
construction in the other room with distaste on his lips, "the size of a hover unit."  
  
"Excellent appraisal, Commander!" Robotnik's fat legs quivered as he slapped   
his palms on them. "I want you to build me the new model by tomorrow."  
  
Packbell snickered. "Good call, sir. We both know we can't trust your lazy   
lackey," he hiked his thumb at Snively, "to build anything on time."  
  
Snively's face darkened, but he remained quiet, still staring at his computer   
monitor.  
  
"So true," Robotnik laughed, enjoying his fun at Snively's expense. He leaned   
back, a look of anticipation on his face, as if he were eagerly awaiting a show. Packbell   
obediently provided one for him, trotting up to Snively and smacking his shoulder in a   
mock-friendly manner.  
  
"What'cha screwing up this time, Snip-ly?"  
  
Snively rubbed his shoulder; the painful impact of Packbell's fist had jarred his   
entire body. "Go away, Packbell. I'm trying to work."  
  
"You should've been done hours ago. Isn't that the original schedule you had?"  
  
Snively didn't bother to respond. The android was only trying to provoke him.  
  
Packbell was modestly chagrined when Snively didn't respond to his baiting. He   
turned to Robotnik, a wolfish grin on his face. "Hey, doc, you want me to throw   
Snively's worthless rump outta here? He's barely working at all -- I guarantee you that I   
can finish in a quarter of the time."  
  
Snively opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, a shrieking alarm   
pierced the laboratory's air.  
  
Robotnik scowled, heaved his massive body off the chair, and trundled over to a   
nearby computer console. His metal fist slapped down on a button, shutting the squealing   
noise off. "Status!" he barked.  
  
An anonymous SWATbot answered. "INTRUDER ALERT. CITY AIRSPACE HAS BEEN   
VIOLATED."  
  
"What?" Robotnik glowered, and his face shuddered in anger. "By who?"  
  
"THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS, IN A BIPLANE."  
  
"A biplane?" Packbell interjected. "How the hell did they get so far over   
Robotropolis without our radar detecting them?"  
  
Robotnik ignored him. "Well, shoot them down!"  
  
"THE ENEMY VEHICLE HAS ALREADY CRASHED IN SECTOR 7, BOULEVARD 9B."  
  
"Order a team of SWATbots and hover units to comb the area. Search for any   
survivors and capture them."  
  
"YES, SIR."  
  
A groan emerged from Robotnik's throat, and he raised a gloved fist to massage   
his forehead. "I don't want to deal with any of those fetid rodents, not right now..."   
Robotnik turned suddenly, to face Packbell. "Commander, you'll take charge of the   
operation, won't you? Give me your report when you've found the furry beasts. Until   
then, I want to play with my new emitter."  
  
"Yes, sir," Packbell flung a hand to his forehead in a half-hearted salute. His gaze   
fell doubtfully to Snively's hunched-over figure. "Though I wouldn't count on Snively   
finishing it any time soon."  
  
Snively lost it. "Just go away, Packbell!"  
  
"That's enough!" Robotnik yelled. "Get to work, both of you!" Packbell walked   
calmly out of the lab. "As for you, Snively, you'd better be done soon!"  
  
***  
  
"Will somebody tell me what the hoo-hah that thing is?"  
  
Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie were crouched in one of the many air ducts that combed   
every building in the city. Ever since the Freedom Fighters had found a map of every   
hidden tunnel and cave, the ducts had become one of Robotropolis's biggest weaknesses,   
since they had unfettered access to almost every building in the city. Yet, in some   
supremely ironic tactical error, Robotnik had never figured this out.  
  
Just beyond the barred grate leading into the labs, worker bots visible were busy   
trundling around a cube-shaped machine that seemed to be in the center of the lab. The   
metal slaves blocked Sally's view of the machine, but she occasionally caught glimpses   
of exposed circuitry and complex wiring systems. A crystalline-like substance extended   
away from the machine like a prong, facing an empty wall.  
  
Through a plate glass window, Sally could just make out Robotnik yelling at   
Snively and Packbell. With his voice muted by the barrier, he looked absurd just   
standing there with his mouth flapping open and closed.  
  
"All we know is that it's what's giving off those strange energy harmonics."   
Sally held Nicole's hand-held form up to the grate. "Nicole, analyze that machine. Are   
there any records of something similar in your database?"  
  
"NO MATCHES FOUND, SALLY."  
  
"So we just have to kill that thing, right, Sal?" Sonic whispered.  
  
"I'd like to know what it is, first, and if we can use it to save..." Sally shook her   
head. "Besides, if we just waltz in there and destroy it, what's to stop Robotnik from   
building another one? He doesn't exactly suffer from a shortage of resources."  
  
"She has a point," Bunnie said. "So what do we do now?"  
  
"I-I don't know. We have to stop Robotnik, first of all. Then..." she trailed off.  
  
"Y'all think that maybe Bookshire can steal the plans for this machine from   
Robotnik's computer?" Bunnie asked. "Then we can build our own back at Knothole,   
and see what it does."  
  
Sally bit her lower lip. "It just doesn't sound right." She glanced back out at the   
tub of a machine. The worker bots looked like they were finishing their work. Some   
were already leaving. "But I guess it's the only thing we can do."  
  
"Yeah, now we're gettin' somewhere!" Sonic grinned. "So are we ready for me   
to run out there and trash that machine?"  
  
"With so many bots around? Sonic, that's too risky. We're in the middle of   
Robotnik's castle!"  
  
"Anything ol' blubber butt can throw at me, I can take on." He shrugged, the   
quills on his back brushing against the top of the cramped air duct. "Besides, what else   
are we going to do? We can't just sit here."  
  
Sally held Nicole up to the grate again. "Nicole, is there anything we can do from   
here that can disable that machine?"  
  
"YES, SALLY. IF I TRANSMIT ON THE ENERGY BAND FREQUENCIES THAT THE MACHINE IS   
ATTEMPTING TO MANIPULATE, IT MAY BE ENOUGH TO DESTABILIZE THE HARMONICS."  
  
"That's good, right?" Sonic asked, clueless.  
  
"Right," Sally confirmed, smiling. "That's the trouble with harmonics. If   
someone has a similar transmitter, they can instantly disrupt the signals on whatever   
frequencies you try."  
  
"If you say so, Sal," Sonic shrugged. "I guess that means that I don't get to kick   
any butt-bots today?"  
  
"Nope. Get ready to activate, Nicole."  
  
"READY, SALLY." Nicole paused. "IF I TRANSMIT A REPEATING PULSE AT THE RIGHT MOMENT,   
I MAY ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO CAUSE A HARMONIC FEEDBACK LOOP THAT WILL DESTROY THE MACHINE."  
  
"Very, very good," Sally cooed.  
  
***  
  
"Snively..."  
  
"We're just about ready, sir!" Snively squealed. "Just let me clear the worker   
bots out of the room."  
  
"Forget the worker bots," Robotnik snapped. "Let them stay in the room. Just   
activate my machine!"  
  
Snively's fingers frantically danced across the keyboard. Power began humming   
audibly through the walls. His uncle's corpulent face lit up with glee at the noise, and he   
sat back down in his chair.  
  
"Oh... if I'm right," Robotnik's voice was rich with pleasure, "and there are other   
worlds out there, parallel worlds, waiting to be conquered... this could be very fun,   
indeed." He turned to Snively, apparently having already forgotten his anger. "All the   
more power, Snively."  
  
"Yes, sir," Snively said, waiting while the emitter powered up.  
  
"Why, you wouldn't even need to stay in my face in Robotropolis, Snively. What   
do you think -- your own world, to rule as a duchy in my kingdom?"  
  
"Delightful, sir," Snively agreed. He actually found the idea rather tempting; his   
own world, away from Robotropolis. He wouldn't have to see his uncle's fat face every   
day, and wouldn't dare come anywhere near his capitol city.  
  
"I-I have to warn you, sir," Snively said, ready to kick himself for breaking   
Robotnik's good mood. "I've been doing a few calculations by myself, and the portal   
will only stay open if the frequencies are harmonized exactly. Which I'm not sure they   
are."  
  
Robotnik's face darkened again, but he didn't yell. "And if they aren't, Snively?"  
  
"Then the portal will collapse in a matter of minutes, sir. I think."  
  
"But then we can just readjust the frequencies, correct?" Robotnik's gloved finger   
rubbed his chin. "And be able to try it again."  
  
"Correct."  
  
"No matter, then."  
  
His computer monitor blinked again. "Capacitors charged, sir. Synchronizing   
harmonic frequencies now." The crystalline prong suddenly lost its glass-like   
translucence, and began glowing.  
  
"Looking very good, Snively. Prepare to activate."  
  
***  
  
Sally held Nicole up to the grate, watching the machine's prongs begin to glow.   
"Nicole... activate!"  
  
The machine exploded.  
  
***  
  
The room exploded in burst of white-hot energy that faded as quickly as it had   
come. Snively heard the plate glass window shatter, and felt the flying shards strike his   
pale skin, but could see nothing but the pure-white light. Too surprised to even shout,   
Snively ducked down and covered his head.  
  
When the light faded, it left a darkness as black as nothingness itself. Gradually,   
the room's lights began to flicker on again. Snively was still curled up in a fetal position,   
feeling the blood from stinging cuts drip down his face.  
  
A metal fist the size of Snively's head grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and   
hoisted him into the air. He found himself face to face with Robotnik, staring into his   
furious red eyes. Somehow, Robotnik had managed to avoid getting cut by the glass.   
Snively's needle-like nose was just inches away from his uncle's barred teeth.  
  
"What HAPPENED, Snively?" Robotnik shouted, getting spittle in Snively's eye.   
He blinked it away.  
  
"I-I-I don't k-know! I think the emitter overloaded!"  
  
"HOW?"  
  
Snively whimpered, and didn't answer. The fist opened, and he fell roughly to   
the ground, landing on his rump. He immediately scrambled to his feet and raced over to   
the computer.  
  
Robotnik stalked angrily over to the hole where the window had been. The tub-  
like machine was spewing smoke into the air, its crystalline emitter cracked and broken.   
Some of the worker bots had fallen dead, while others were only stunned. He glanced   
over the ruins, but something caught his eye. The wall the machine had been facing was   
now glowing: a flat, swirling vortex of white energy was floating there. The portal had   
been opened.  
  
He grinned. If it were stable, it would remain open permanently, with or without   
the emitter device itself.  
  
"I can only get a few of the worker bots to respond, sir," Snively said, frantically   
typing. He turned away from the keyboard, anxious to appear as if he were doing   
something. "I'll go in and investigate, sir." He practically dove through the doorway,   
and into the other room.  
  
Inside, Snively grumbled to himself as he frantically combed over the emitter's   
ruins for a sign of anything that could have caused the overload. Why couldn't anything   
ever go right while he was there? Never, never, never-  
  
An irritatingly familiar chuckle from behind him derailed his train of thought. He   
froze. Even though he was a human, his hearing was remarkably good. He heard   
whispering, echoed as if in a confined space... or an air duct...  
  
"Keep quiet, sugarhog!" A despicably southern accent whispered. It was the   
Freedom Fighter, Bunnie Rabbot. He had heard the hedgehog laughing earlier.  
  
He swiveled around, facing the air ducts. He thrust a finger in the direction of  
the offending vent. "You... you've really done it this time!" he hissed.  
  
"He saw us," he heard the Princess whisper.  
  
"No kiddin'," the hedgehog laughed boastfully. "We have done it this time,   
haven't we?"  
  
"Doctor Robotnik! There are Freedom Fighters in the air vents!" he shouted.   
Without the glass window, Robotnik easily heard his nephew shouting.  
  
"HOW did they ever-" Robotnik cut himself off, slapping down a nearby alarm   
button. "All SWATbots, seal off the castle's air ducts! Don't let them escape!"  
  
The alarms drowned out Snively's computer. It beeped an unheeded warning: the   
portal had begun to destabilize, and would collapse within minutes.  
  
***  
  
"Wake up, damn it!" Something kicked the back of the biplane's pilot seat.   
"Wake up!"  
  
Sonic's eyes fluttered open, and sharp pain immediately wormed its way into his   
consciousness. His mouth opened soundlessly in protest against the pain.  
  
"Stupid organics," the android Nicole cursed.  
  
"He's hurt, Nicole," Packbell, the Mobotropolis Police Commander Packbell,   
said.  
  
"My leg," Sonic groaned. "I can't move my leg! What happened?"  
  
"The biplane got shot before we could activate the Time Stones," Packbell said.   
"I think we made it back anyway, but the plane crashed right after. And you blacked   
out."  
  
"Hell's bells," Sonic groaned. "Where are we?"  
  
Packbell glanced out of the biplane's shattered front window. He saw soot-  
stained streets, pollution-clouded skies, and looming metal buildings...  
  
"I don't think we're in Mobotropolis anymore," he said. "God damn, you weren't   
kidding when you told us about this place, were you? This is awful!"  
  
Nicole glanced towards the dark city skyline. "I dunno... I kinda like this   
world's version of Mobotropolis. At least it *looks* like it has a purpose."  
  
Sonic looked down, and his feet. The pilot's chair had collapsed against the floor   
during the crash. One of his legs was pinned underneath it. He tried freeing it, to no   
avail. It was stuck solid.  
  
Packbell's strong android arms were able to lift it. More pain shot up Sonic's   
spine.  
  
"It looks like it's fractured," Packbell diagnosed. "I'd forget about being able to   
run anytime soon."  
  
Sonic's head fell forward, looking like he was getting ready to sob again.  
  
"We've got to get out of here," Packbell said. "If this place is half as nasty as you   
said, we're going to be swarmed by robot military in minutes."  
  
Sonic shoved the cracked biplane's door open. The hinges snapped, and it fell to   
the ground with a loud clank. The wounded hedgehog winced; the Freedom Stormer was   
wrecked.  
  
"Can't get out of here if I can't walk..." Sonic mumbled. Carefully, he set his   
injured foot on the ground. More pain. He wouldn't be able to put much weight on it,   
but he could still walk.  
  
Packbell followed him out the door, and the android Nicole scrambled out a   
window.  
  
"Smells nice out here," Nicole said, sniffing the pollution-tainted air. "Smells   
like *industry*."  
  
Sonic glared at Nicole. "I liked you better when you were hand-held."  
  
"Screw you, too," the android Nicole said sweetly. She reached back into the   
plane and grabbed the other Nicole: the hand-held version from Sonic's universe. "This   
Nicole, see, she doesn't have any ambition. She never does anything for herself, so she   
never got herself an android body. And look how far she's gotten in life." The android   
tossed the palmtop computer to Sonic. "A slave to you and the Princess. That ain't me.   
I'm nobody's slave."  
  
Sonic limped around on his injured leg. Packbell was right; he wasn't able to rev   
up his legs and use his speed. Sonic's greatest weapon was gone.  
  
The android Nicole stared daggers at her parallel-universe counterpart. "She   
never had any ambition."  
  
"Can it, Nicole!" Packbell ordered.  
  
"Would you stop telling me that?" Nicole snapped.  
  
"We've still got to get out of the city," Sonic interrupted. "Butt-bots will be here   
any minute. And... I can't move very fast."  
  
Packbell nodded. "Nicole, what say you and I save our new hedgehog friend,   
here?"  
  
"Only for extra pay."  
  
"We'll discuss that later." Packbell turned to Sonic. "You get out of here, take   
one of the alleyways or something. We'll distract the bots so they won't be looking for   
you."  
  
"I never thought I'd hear myself say this: thanks, Packbell." Sonic limped off   
down the boulevard, and ducked into an alley. He was gone.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Packbell?" Nicole asked doubtfully. She could see the   
outlines of approaching hover units in the smog-filled air.  
  
"I've learned a few tricks from fighting the Knothole terrorists. There are   
*many* ways you can outwit a city security 'bot. Trust me."  
  
***  
  
"Damn it, Sonic!" In Robotnik's castle, still crouched in the air ducts, Sally was   
incensed. "You gave us away!"  
  
He shrugged. "I couldn't pass that one up. You gotta love Snidely's expression   
when he's scared silly. Trust me, Sal, we can handle it."  
  
Sally's eyes widened in alarm. "Weren't you listening? He's cut off all the air   
ducts! We can't escape the building now!"  
  
"Sure we can, Sal," he said confidently.  
  
A wind began to pick up through the vents, blowing directly outside. "Hey,   
what's that?"  
  
Sally pointed out towards the lab. "It's the vortex."  
  
The portal that had torn through the air had grown, in only seconds, grown to be   
twice as wide. It was destabilized, as Nicole had promised, and looked ready to collapse   
and disintegrate at any moment. Air was being sucked inwards; wind whooshed through   
the room, pulling at Snively's few remaining strands of hair.  
  
"Then what do you propose we do?" Sally asked murderously.  
  
"I say we leave," Sonic said simply.  
  
"Well we can't do that now!"  
  
The portal split into two separate pieces, spewing white energy in all directions.   
The wind picked up even more, becoming almost a gale force. Robotnik's cape fluttered   
violently over his head, blinding him. Snively's feet were knocked out from underneath   
him -- his hands clutched at the ruins of the emitter device.  
  
"Gah!" he screamed, panicked.  
  
The portals began to shift through space, roaming throughout the room like lost   
puppies.  
  
Sonic raised his voice above the wind. "You have to listen to what ol' Robuttnik   
doesn't say, Sal! He didn't order the SWATbutts to come to the lab, so we can just walk   
out the doorway."  
  
Sally nodded, her expression indescribable through the haze of fur being blown   
through the air. The fact that this was the shedding season didn't help; loose strands of   
fur blew out through the grate and towards the portals. "And he ordered all the   
SWATbots to secure the air ducts. That means the hallway guards, too!"  
  
Snively was suddenly overcome by one of the moving portals. When it stirred   
again and moved, the frail human's form was gone.  
  
Sonic snapped his fingers. "Right! So we can just walk on outta here!" He   
laughed again. "Sal, grab on to me. Bunnie, grab onto Sal!"  
  
The other Freedom Fighters did as they were told. Sonic managed to rev up his   
legs in the tiny space.  
  
"Time to juice and cut it loose!"  
  
A blue-, brown-, and tan-colored streak of fur and quills burst out through the   
grate, dodging deftly between the multiple portals, and through the shattered remains of   
the laboratory window. It just barely missed hitting Robotnik's obese stomach head on,   
instead nicking him on the side. The impact spun him around in several circles,   
disorienting him, and he crumpled to the ground. The impact shook the floor.   
"Hedgehog!" his angry, metallic voice shouted.  
  
"Later, Robuttnik!" the streak of fur and quills dodged out the door. Robotnik   
was frozen on the floor, hands gripping any nicks or niches he could find, until the wind   
died down and the portals disappeared.  
  
When the last one had finally collapsed, there was no sign of either Snively or the   
numerous worker bots.  
  
***  
  
The streak of fur and quills burst out the front entrance of the castle and down one   
of Robotropolis's main wide streets. Lasers were fired; all of them missed. The   
hedgehog laughed boisterously, and disappeared beyond the city limits, going back into   
the Great Forest before any airborne pursuit could be scrambled.  
  
The wounded hedgehog from the future saw the blur from a distant street, but   
with his injured leg, he was helpless to catch up. He saw a flash of brown fur. Oh god,   
Sally...  
  
He gritted his teeth against the pain, limping through Robotropolis towards the   
borders of the Great Forest. He had to get back to Knothole in time. He *had* to warn   
them.  
  



	3. Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 3:  
Through the Looking Glass  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If any of you are wondering where I came up with this "harmonics"  
business, it's from two lines of otherwise meaningless technobabble in the cartoon  
episodes "Sonic Conversion" and "The Void". In "Sonic Conversion", Uncle Chuck and  
Rotor were talking about harmonic frequencies while they were creating the hologram  
map. In "The Void", Snively said, "Harmonic frequencies synchronized" while he was  
preparing to close the portal that lead to the Void.  
  
A familiarly sonorous voice echoed in Snively's eardrums, stirring him from the   
blissful oblivion of unconscious. He tried to ignore it, tried not to think about it.   
Throughout his entire life that voice had brought him nothing but pain.  
  
"Wake up," the voice demanded. There was something different about it this   
time, the mechanical resonance of his uncle's robotic vocal cords was off. "Time to   
wake up."  
  
Snively groaned, and rolled over. As sensation returned to him, he felt a soft   
mattress underneath him and a blanket of some kind covering his elfin form. His mouth   
twisted into a frown; he had woken like this many times before, in Robotropolis's   
medical bay, covered in wounds inflicted by his fat uncle.  
  
Why couldn't the voice just leave him alone? He was the one who had done this   
to him. Couldn't he understand that Snively preferred the lonely nonbeing that sleep   
brought to whatever cruel tortures the day would bring?  
  
"I know you're awake," the voice repeated urgently. "Open your eyes."  
  
God, whatever wounds Robotnik's fury had inflicted must have been severe this   
time. Snively couldn't even remember being beaten this time. Memory flashed painfully   
through him, rippling like a crest of pain down his spine. He saw the exploding emitter   
device, the portals swirling around the room. Robotnik must have been *very* angry.  
  
Snively's eyes fluttered open. His vision was clouded with the haze of   
unconsciousness, and Snively vainly wondered how long he had been out of it. He saw   
the blurred form of an obese man standing in front of him.  
  
"Y-yes, Doctor Robotnik?" Snively said weakly, voice cracking.  
  
There was no immediate answer. Snively lay back in the bed, eyes sealed shut,   
wishing again for the bliss of nonexistence.  
  
"Son, do you know where you are?" the voice asked. Snively thought the tone   
was unusual for Robotnik, but he was always so unpredictable…  
  
"The city's medical wards," Snively mumbled. His hand slowly moved across his   
body, poking the flesh, checking for new wounds. His face still stung where the flying   
glass had hit him, but otherwise he felt fine.  
  
"You're that coherent, at least." Snively heard a sharp scratching, like a pen   
scrawling something onto a hard surface. He opened his eyes once more and saw that the   
figure was holding a clipboard. Robotnik wasn't wearing his usual Robotropolis   
uniform, either, he was wearing a white dress of some kind, almost like his military outfit   
from before the coup.  
  
Snively felt a headache begin to build up in his temples. How long *had* he been   
unconscious?  
  
His eyes fell upon his uncle's left arm, vision focusing more clearly. Robotnik   
wasn't wearing his usual gloves and his arm… his arm… it was organic!  
  
Snively's eyes snapped open, suddenly fully alert.  
  
The pen was still moving against a sheet of paper on the clipboard. "And… what   
did you call me again? Doctor Robotnik?" He appeared to be writing it down. The   
recognizable orange mustache twitched momentarily. "Well, I'll be. That's my name,   
spelt backwards."  
  
Snively clutched futilely at the blanket, as if it might offer some form of   
protection from the reality he was suddenly confronted with.  
  
The fat man smiled amiably. His face was so aberrantly charismatic that Snively   
would have had a hard time actually recognizing it. But there was no doubt: the man   
standing before him now was his uncle.  
  
More memory shot through Snively like a lightning bolt. He saw Robotnik's   
theory of parallel worlds, he saw the emitter shoot out a burst of energy… he saw himself   
falling through the portal in Robotnik's lab.  
  
Snively found a hand held out to him. "My name is Doctor Julian Kintobor, and   
I've been placed in charge of your recovery."  
  
Snively forced air into his lungs. "No," he gasped.  
  
"Are you feeling all right?" Doctor Kintobor asked, genuinely concerned. "That   
was quite a light show you put on before we found you."  
  
Snively was unable to speak. His world had been torn away from him and this…   
this wasn't right.  
  
Kintobor frowned, looking at his clipboard again. "I'm not sure why we found   
you unconscious. There were no external injuries or anything of the sort, aside from a   
few cuts on your face and scalp. If you're feeling okay, some of King Acorn's people   
would like to ask you a few questions."  
  
"No," Snively squeaked, "no questions. Where am I?"  
  
"I thought you knew," the doctor frowned. "The Mobotropolis City Hospital."  
  
Snively's breathing became frantic. Doctor Kintobor frowned. "No, this isn't   
right, none of this is right." His wide eyes met Julian's. "I've GOT to get out of here!"  
Before the Doctor could react, Snively deftly threw the sheets away from him and   
scrambled for the door.  
  
  
*****  
  
"Didn't that work out well?" Nicole spat, furiously pacing the cell. The angry,   
electrical buzzing of the force field bars threatened to drown out her voice. She held up   
her hand before Packbell could answer. "No, wait, don't tell me. 'Can it, Nicole',   
right?"  
  
"Right," Packbell growled, in the cell across the hallway. His Mobotropolis   
police officer's uniform was torn and scarred. Some of the false flesh on his upper arm   
was missing; raw metal showed through the wound.  
  
The android Nicole continued pacing, arms akimbo. "'There are many ways to   
outwit a city security bot', you said, like you knew what you were talking about."  
Packbell shot up from his seat, staring daggers at Nicole through the two force   
fields separating them. "So the ones in this universe have learned a few new tricks. I   
didn't know that!"  
  
"'Trust me', you said." Nicole shook her head. "Once we get out of here, my   
paycheck is going to bankrupt the Acorn royal treasury, I swear it."  
  
"Would you stop thinking about yourself, for once?"  
  
"Never," Nicole snapped.  
  
"Look at it this way," Packbell said, "We're stuck here, in an alien universe, and a   
week in the past. We're inside some kind of sick mockery of Mobotropolis." His chin   
came close to the force field bars. "What we do here now affects the fate everything we   
know on our planet. This is beyond the scope of a paycheck; we're dealing with entire   
worlds here."  
  
"Ask me if I care," Nicole shot back. "I do things for myself, and nobody else.   
Our miserable little planet can go fuck itself and it wouldn't matter to me. The only thing   
I know is that so far I've been severely under compensated on this little adventure."  
  
Packbell shook his head, staring uncertainly at Nicole. "You really don't care   
about anyone else, do you?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past week!"  
  
"I never thought that such a person could exist. You're lying."  
  
"Like hell I am." She held up a finger and leveled at Packbell, as if just the act of   
pointing it could cause damage. "Listen, if I *cared* about anyone but me, I wouldn't be   
here right now. I would still be trapped inside a little hand-held computer, answering   
questions for any idiot who asked."  
  
The two androids stared wrathfully at each other for several moments. Memories   
flashed through Nicole's mind: memories of being an AI trapped inside a palmtop   
computer, being that bitch ground squirrel's slave. Only a year had gone past since   
Nicole had betrayed the Knothole terrorists on her own world to procure an android body   
and go into business for herself. Her life before that she still remembered in vivid detail,   
and she hated it. The hate burned in her eyes as she stared at the Mobotropolis police   
officer.  
  
Disgust gleamed in Packbell's eyes as he stared back.  
  
Nicole slammed a furred fist into the cell's wall, and sat down. A bitter silence   
lingered in the air of the cellblock.  
  
Nicole could hear gears whirring as a door at the end of the hallway opened.   
Booted footsteps echoed down the hallway. Before long, the source of the noise stepped   
into her angle of view.  
  
"Oh, my," Commander Packbell said, red Robotropolis uniform polished to a   
sparkle, as he stared at the two prisoners. His gaze was rooted on his android   
counterpart, the one wearing the uniform of the Mobotropolis police.  
  
"Oh, shit," the Mobotropolis Commander cursed.  
  
The two Packbells stared at each other for another moment, more curious than   
anything.  
  
The Robotropolis Packbell rubbed his chin, staring at the prisoner. "I've been   
observing you for some time now, through the cell's cameras… I must say that you are   
the most… unusual prisoners I've been ordered to interrogate." Packbell knew how to  
put two and two together. "So you're from another world, huh? You're my counterpart?"  
  
Packbell felt the oil in his veins freeze. Before they had activated the Time   
Stones to come to this world, Sonic had warned him about his counterpart in   
Robotropolis. He didn't answer.  
  
The other Packbell continued, still staring at the prisoners, "I actually thought that   
the fat bastard had finally gone crazy. When first mentioned the concept of other   
realities, it took all of my reserves to keep from laughing in his face. I guess he was   
right, after all… because you, even though you look like me, are definitely *not* me."   
The android's finger moved close to the force field bars; sparks of static electricity   
jumped to his hand. "And, although I actually had to check some of the older records,   
I've identified your clothing as the uniform of a Mobotropolis police officer. Delicious."  
  
Neither of the prisoners spoke.  
  
"How did you come to be here in Robotropolis, hmmm?" Commander Packbell   
asked. "You appeared *before* the Doc had his little accident in the lab. You traveled   
between worlds on your own initiative. Tell me why."  
  
"I can't do that," came the answer.  
  
"You will also tell me why you appeared in the Freedom Fighters' little toy   
biplane."  
  
"No, I won't."  
  
"You will. I don't know anything about you or your own universe, and you   
probably don't know much about me, either. I can tell you, though, that I am a master of   
interrogation." Packbell grinned. "And I have tools that can surpass even the level of an   
android's pain tolerance."  
  
  
*****  
  
"So what do you think, Bookshire?" Sally asked, peering over the raccoon's   
shoulder at the computer monitor. Seemingly random patterns of text and numbers   
flashed on and off on the screen.  
  
"I might be able to access some of the data, but… how much would depend on   
where he stored it." Bookshire frowned, watching the stream of data. "You said that you   
found the machine in Robotnik's laboratory, right? The one in his castle?"  
  
"That's right, sugar," Bunnie said.  
  
"I can hack into his lab computers, at least for a little while. But we run a serious   
risk of being detected, and if that happens Robotnik may be able to trace us back to   
Knothole." Bookshire paused, rubbing his muzzle. "Of course, if I relay our pirate   
signal through several different transmitters, it'll be harder for him to find us… but I just   
don't think that anything is worth the risk."  
  
Sally nodded, determination still smoldering in her eyes. "What would be the   
odds of getting caught if you tried that?"  
  
Bookshire saw Sally's expression, and knew instantly where she was heading.   
"Princess, I'm sorry I have to say this, but… you need to think clearly. Just because   
there's a chance that we might rescue your father, that doesn't mean you have to put the   
lives of everyone here in danger." Sally didn't immediately answer. Bookshire sighed.   
"After your last attack, Robotnik could be expecting this."  
  
"We have to try it, Booky," Sally ordered.  
  
Bookshire turned back to his computer, shaking his head. "Okay, Princess. I just   
hope you're making the right decision. Bunnie, could you get Rotor in here? Let's boot   
up the cryptosmasher software."  
  
"Shore thing, sugar."  
  
Sally's feet had stayed rooted to the floor of Bookshire's hut as the room changed   
around her. Within minutes of Bookshire's request, his small room had been crowded   
almost to the breaking point. Furniture had been moved to make room for all the   
newcomers. Sally thought about ordering them all out, but remembered Bookshire's   
warning. What happened here could possibly lead to Robotnik finding Knothole's   
location; they all had a right to know if that happened.  
  
"I could use Nicole for this." The Princess unclipped the hand-held computer,   
and obediently handed it to Bookshire. Nicole's case slid easily into an adapter slot on   
the computer.  
  
"Amazing how she always has an interface for everything," Bookshire mumbled   
to himself.  
  
"I'm sorry?" Sally asked, confused.  
  
Bookshire's finger tapped against Nicole's case. "Well, every time we've needed   
to interface Nicole with some kind of other computer, she's always had the right   
interface, or an adapter, or…" Bookshire trailed off, staring into space. "Never mind.   
Nicole, begin broadcasting the pirate signal into the Robotropolis mainframe."  
  
"BROADCASTING… INTERFACE READY."  
  
A tense silence descended over the room. It had begun… if Robotnik's security   
noticed them, it would be a simple matter to triangulate the signal's origin. Knothole   
would be done for.  
  
They won't find us, Sally vowed. They can't.  
  
"Let's get this done as quickly as possible," Bookshire said. "Link directly to the   
computers in Robotnik's castle laboratory."  
  
"PASSWORD NEEDED."  
  
"Activate the cryptosmasher software."  
  
Numbers ticked on Bookshire's screen, drowning the hut in silence.  
  
"ACCESS GRANTED."  
  
A sharp gasp of air escaped Bookshire's lungs. Sally hadn't realized that she had   
been holding her breath, too, and exhaled in relief. The raccoon turned around to face   
Sally.  
  
"What did you say Snively called it?"  
  
"I think he said… emitter?"  
  
"Nicole, search for any files that reference a device called an emitter. Especially   
any schematics."  
  
"TWO FILES FOUND."  
  
"Display one."  
  
The air shimmered for a moment as light twisted into a hologram. Sally saw a   
three-dimensional overlay of the hover unit-sized box, a crystallite prong attached to the   
front. "That's it. That's it!"  
  
"What about the second file, Nicole?"  
  
The hologram flickered, light unfolding to reveal a smaller device that looked   
remarkably similar to Nicole. A similar crystalline prong was mounted on the front of   
the device, but it appeared much smaller than the one on the other schematic.  
  
"What's that?" Sally asked.  
  
Bookshire shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe… a smaller emitter? It looks to   
have the same function as the other device, but the scale is much smaller." He frowned.   
"We'll figure it out later. Nicole, download both of the files and transfer them to my   
computer's hard disk."  
  
"DONE."  
  
"Cut off the broadcast."  
  
"TRANSMISSION ENDED."  
  
A palpable sense of relief swept throughout the room. Bookshire wiped the sweat   
off his brow, and leaned back in his chair. "And that's enough excitement for today." He   
turned around, looking at the crowd. "Okay, show's over. Nothing else happening. You   
all can leave." Reluctantly, most of the onlookers began filing out.  
  
Sally wasn't paying attention. "Nicole, begin analysis of the schematics. Tell me   
exactly what they are."  
  
"WORKING…"  
  
Rotor wheeled his chair over to Sally, silent but watching Nicole intently. Sonic   
and Bunnie hadn't left with the others, and they joined Rotor. Sonic drummed his fingers   
impatiently on the wall.  
  
"THE TWO DEVICES ARE DESIGNED TO EMIT HARMONIC FREQUENCIES ON-"  
  
"You're doin' it again!" Sonic snapped bitterly, earning him Sally's irate glare.  
  
Without skipping a beat, Nicole reworded her answer. "THEY ARE ABLE TO OPEN PORTALS   
SIMILAR TO THE VOID'S GATEWAY."  
  
"So they both have the same function?" Rotor asked.  
  
"YES, BUT ONE DEVICE IS SMALLER, AND MORE EFFICIENTLY CONSTRUCTED."  
  
"Display the smaller device." The hologram of the hand-held emitter flickered   
into being again. "Display a list of the materials and resources the device needs." A text   
chart appeared in the air next to the schematic. Sally could only recognize a few of the   
names on the list, but the ones she could pick out included several different kinds of   
metals, all highly conductive.  
  
Sonic's foot tapped against the wooden floorboards.  
  
"Rotor? Do we have any of these materials on hand?" Sally asked anxiously.  
"I dunno. I see a lot of things that I could scavenge from the storeroom, but the   
rest of this stuff… I don't know where we can get a device capable of harmonizing those   
frequencies." His shoulders twitched in a little shrug. "Knothole isn't exactly the most   
well-stocked town on Mobius, Sally."  
  
Sally's face sagged downward. Rotor was usually overly optimistic when it came   
to his mechanical skills; from him, an "I dunno" was almost an admission of defeat. The   
walrus continued, "I mean, as far as I know Nicole is the only thing in Knothole that uses   
*any* harmonized frequencies, and she uses those just to create holograms. We'd have   
to dissect her to get some of the materials we need."  
  
"We all know that's not an option," Bookshire said. "So now what?"  
  
"Well, if we want to be able to build this device, we need to find another   
expendable device that uses harmonics. Dissecting one of those is the only way we can   
get the circuitry needed to harmonize any kind of energy band."  
  
"I could always bust some 'Buttbots back in Robotropolis," Sonic offered. "If we   
don't have one of those doohickeys in Knothole, the city's sure to have one somewhere."  
  
"Maybe," Sally said, downcast.  
  
"Hey, wait a second, Rotor," Sonic said. "You said you just need any device that   
uses harmonics, right?" Rotor nodded. "And all holograms use harmonic frequencies of   
light to work?"  
  
"Yeah," Rotor confirmed.  
  
"Well, what about that map of Robo-town my Uncle Chuck made for us? That's   
a hologram."  
  
  
*****  
  
Sharp pain shot up through the hedgehog's wounded leg, even worse than usual.   
Muscles stopped moving, and he lost balance, tumbling helplessly to the ground. His   
head impacted the forest's dirt flooring chin-first, kicking up dust into his face and eyes.   
More pain rippled up and down Sonic's spine.  
  
For a moment, the injured hedgehog was afraid that his walking had worsened the   
fracture and he'd finally broken it. He rolled over onto his back, carefully checking his   
leg's condition, ignoring the grinding agony that had been his constant companion for the   
past several hours.  
  
He could still move his leg, which came as more than a relief. Looking back on   
his path, he saw that he had just taken a bad fall over a rut. Sonic had been counting on   
being able to run at his usual break-neck pace. Being forced to walk was already enough   
of a delay, and he knew had didn't have the time for any more. He had kept a careful   
watch on the sun's journey across the sky, remembering that it had been just after   
nightfall when the portal had been opened in Knothole. Right now the sun was on the   
verge of setting, and so far he had only completed half of the long journey to rebels'   
forest enclave.  
  
"Man," he said, puffing breath as he pulled himself back into a standing position,   
"This 'walking' stuff draws major wind."  
  
The hedgehog's ears twitched, detecting the faint sound of running water nearby.   
He hobbled over to the source of the noise, leg still throbbing after the fall, and   
discovered a small stream. He cupped his hands together and dunked them into the   
water, bringing it back up to his face. The cool liquid poured down his forehead and   
cheeks, washing away the dust he had collected during his walk. The sensation was   
immediately welcome.  
  
He paused for another few minutes, bringing up more handfuls of water to face   
and drinking them. The stream was surprisingly clear for being so close to Robotropolis,   
though it still had a slight, bitter tang of industrial pollution. Recently, at Knothole, the   
problem had become so bad that Rotor had to build a water filter just to collect drinking   
water. Sonic wondered vaguely what kind of damage the lead and contaminants in the   
water would do to his system in the years to come, and then shrugged it off.  
  
He knew it didn't matter any more. Like his counterpart had said, one way or   
another, his life would be over soon. Thoughts of time travel and parallel dimensions   
still gave him headaches, but over the past week he had grown used to such things, and   
knew exactly what would happen to him. If he succeeded in changing the timeline and   
preventing the portal from opening, then he would have saved his friends and the past   
version of himself, but he, this Sonic, would simply cease to exist.  
  
And if he failed to change the timeline, then he was dead anyway.  
  
Either way, Sonic knew, the version of himself that was truly him, the one   
squatting by the stream sipping water, was done for.  
  
The thought struck him with its finality, but he realized something. He didn't   
really care what happened to him now. He had to succeed in saving his friends. Even   
death would be worth it if that was the price he had to pay to save Sally from becoming   
the… the corpse he had seen in the future.  
  
And besides, Sonic reasoned, the past version of himself would stay alive. In   
some way, he would still exist. One hedgehog is all this universe can handle, he thought   
smugly.  
  
  
*****  
  
Sally's nimble fingers reached underneath the metallic hologram projector, and   
quickly plucked out the essential piece of control circuitry. The three-dimensional map   
of Robotropolis flickered and disappeared, replaced by random streams of red, blue, and   
green lights jumbled in midair. Those, too, died within seconds, leaving only empty air   
where the map had been.  
  
The hologram table had sat in the same place ever since Sir Charles had first   
constructed it, near a table in Sally's hut. Without the controlling microchip, the map had   
been reduced to a useless metal plank. Reluctantly, she pushed it over to the corner of   
her hut. It would have to go unused until the microchip got returned.  
  
Sally held the microchip up to the light. "I don't know why I didn't think of this   
before," Rotor was saying. "That's the piece we need, right there. Uncle Chuck used it   
to control the light beams' frequencies, to synchronize them and create harmonics. With   
a little retooling, we can use it to control other energy bands, too. Like the ones the   
emitter uses."  
  
"So, that's it then?" Sally asked breathlessly, not sure whether or not she wanted   
to hear the answer. "You have all the parts?"  
  
"All the parts listed. Now that we have the microchip, all we need is the   
crystalline transmitter, battery pack, case, and the wiring." He absently plucked at his   
whiskers, deep in thought. "I *think* that I can find most of those, or a decent substitute,   
in the store room."  
  
"How soon can we build our own emitter?"  
  
"I dunno. I haven't really had a chance to go over the schematics you recovered."   
He shrugged. "Maybe tonight, maybe a week from now. It depends on how complex the   
design is."  
  
"Get right on it, Rotor."  
  
"No problem, Princess. I, uh, could use some help sorting through some of the   
junk in the store room, Sonic."  
  
"Yeah, I'll be there in a sonic second."  
  
Sally passed the harmonics microchip to Rotor's extended hand, and he left. The   
door slipped shut behind him; Sonic and Sally were alone. An uncomfortable silence fell   
across the room. Sonic obviously had something to talk about, but was waiting for the   
princess to speak first.  
  
Sally knew what he was going to say. She didn't volunteer any words, and faced   
away from him, staring out the window. It was getting darker and darker outside, the sun   
falling away behind the Great Forest's ever-present foliage. The lessening light made it   
easier to see the glare of the room's light bulb reflected in the pane, glowing like second   
sun.  
  
She stared at the reflected light, its fiery incandescence reminding her of the   
swirling purple and yellow vortex of the Void.  
  
"Sal, are you feeling all right?" Sonic asked, at last.  
  
Sally gently opened the window, watching as the reflection of the light bulb   
disappeared with the receding glass. Cool evening air drifted inward. "No, no I'm not,"   
she said simply.  
  
Sonic didn't seem to know how to answer. Even though he was one of the most   
charismatic and self-confident inhabitants of Knothole, in moments like these the   
hedgehog was always the epitome of teenage awkwardness. He just remained silent for a   
time.  
  
"If there's even a chance of rescuing my father, I'm going to take it," Sally said,   
speaking with a resolve she didn't feel. "No matter what."  
  
"Even at the cost of Knothole?"  
  
Sally didn't turn to face him, only staring out the open window. A full moon was   
just peeking out behind a distant cloud, its light casting down on the village, bestowing it   
with a surreal atmosphere.  
  
"Because that's what almost happened tonight, Sal. One false move, and   
*boom*," Sonic snapped his fingers, "The village would've been history."  
  
"I will find him."  
  
"I just don't think it's worth it, Sal," Sonic continued. "At the very least, we   
could have gone to Robotropolis tomorrow to recover those schematics." Still no answer.   
"Sal… So what if Robotnik found a quicker way to open the Void? He already knew   
how to do that."  
  
"Now we do, too."  
  
"And it won't do us much good. Even if we've found a way to open the Void   
ourselves, we still don't know how to keep anyone that comes out from turning to   
crystal."  
  
"Damn it, Sonic," Sally burst out, spinning around. "We have to try!"  
  
Sonic took an involuntary step backward; his eyes wide open in surprise. Sally   
frowned, and turned back towards the window, unwilling to apologize.  
  
"I wouldn't be able to face myself in the morning if I didn't try," she said.  
"I'm sorry, Sal."  
  
"Don't be. It's not your fault…" She paused. "I have to try and rescue him.   
Please understand that."  
  
Sonic walked forward again, standing next to her. His gaze fell out the window,   
towards the horizon and the ever-present smog hovering over Robotropolis. "Yeah, I   
understand. I was the same way with Uncle Chuck when we had the deroboticizer." He   
smirked. "I seem to remember someone telling me to 'use my brain' instead of charging   
out to save him."  
  
"And I seem to remember someone saying that thinking gives him a headache,"   
Sally sniped back.  
  
"Well now the roles have changed. I just wanted to tell you to… use your brain,   
Sally. Don't take too many risks."  
  
"Yeah, I'll try."  
  
"Just so long as you think you know what you're doing, I trust you, Sal."  
  
Sally looked over at Sonic. "You don't know how much that means to me right   
now."  
  
The hedgehog only grinned. "Oh, I know." He turned towards the door,   
extending his hand. "Come on, Rotor's expecting me right now. You gonna help?"  
  
"Of course." Sally put her hand above Sonic's, and both of them curled into fists.   
Sally brought her fist down on Sonic's, and then he brought his back on top of hers. The   
fists met each levelly, giving each other the thumbs-up and completing the little ritual.   
"There's always a way to fight," she smiled.  
  
"Let's do it to it."  
  
  
*****  
  
"Wow, that was fast. I thought you said that it would take longer," Sonic said,   
scratching his head. He, Sally, Bookshire, and Rotor stood near a pair of huts on the   
fringes of Knothole. The store room was nearby, its contents spilled and spread all over   
the ground from Rotor hunting through the mess for parts.  
  
"The design was actually simpler than I anticipated," Rotor said. He held a small   
plastic box, cobbled together in the space of an hour. Wires and tubing stuck out it at   
ugly angles, looping back in amongst each other in a design that more than failed to   
please the eye: Rotor designed his machines to be functional, not aesthetically appealing.   
  
The only thing not covered in wiring and cooling industrial glue was the small,   
crystalline prong sticking out of the front of the device. "In fact, it's almost an exact   
copy of a hologram generator, but it works along different energy bands. The wave it's   
keyed to create is an odd pattern, but easy to duplicate."  
  
He offered it to Sally. "Here you go, Princess. The 'emitter'. But it's not   
guaranteed to work."  
  
Sally gladly took the emitter, trying not to wince as metal odds-and-ends poked   
her palm. "You've really outdone yourself this time, Rotor. This is incredible!"  
  
The walrus beamed.  
  
Sally flipped the device around in her hand, looking over every piece of it. A   
small button was mounted on the emitter's underside. "And this button activates it?"  
  
Rotor nodded, then stopped. "Well, it *will* send power from the battery pack   
into the crystal tip of the emitter, just like the schematics said. From there, though, I'm   
not sure what will happen. If what you said is right, a portal to the Void might open."  
  
"And if we built it wrong?"  
  
Rotor shrugged helplessly. "I really don't know. If we're unlucky, something   
like what occurred in Robotnik's lab might happen. An unstable portal that'll collapse in   
minutes."  
  
"Bogus," Sonic said, biting his lip. "Wouldn't want that to happen in Knothole."   
A thought struck him. "Hey, Sal, whatever happened to Snip-ly, anyway? I didn't see   
him when we ran out of that place."  
  
"Maybe the portal got him," Sally laughed. "That'd make my day. Snively in the   
Void?"   
  
"With Naugus and the King? He wouldn't last an hour," Sonic chuckled.  
  
Sally examined the emitter again, eyeing the button. "Well, we may get the   
chance to find out."  
  
Bookshire's eyes widened. "You mean you're actually going to use it?   
Tonight?"  
  
"This is something that can't wait until morning," Sally said. "It's not like I'd be   
able to get any sleep, anyway, if we didn't try it now."  
  
Sally felt Bookshire's hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure about this? While we   
were going over the schematics, I found *both* Robotnik and Packbell's signatures on   
the file. They knew that we were interested in this; it could just be a trap."  
  
"I really doubt it," Sally said. She pointed to a nearby clearing. "Say we open the   
portal over there? If it turns out to be unstable, it won't be close enough to the village to   
do any major harm."  
  
"Sounds like a plan, Sal."  
  
It was a short, brisk walk over to the clearing. Sonic was there before anybody   
else, and was tapping his feet impatiently when the others finally got there.  
  
"It's all set, Princess," Rotor said. "Just point the emitter at an the air and press   
the button."  
  
She glanced back at Bookshire. "Please, you have to know that this is important."  
  
The raccoon sighed, and finally relented. "All right, Princess. I trust you."  
  
Sally held up the emitter, facing away from the others, and making sure that there   
were no trees or plants immediately in front of her. Her index finger hovered over the   
button. The others were silent; Bookshire looked ready to make a run for it.  
  
This is it, she thought.  
  
The mental image of her father spurred a new flow of determination. Her finger   
plunged towards the button.  
  
The air in front of the crystalline prong wavered momentarily. The effect shot   
outward towards the air in front of her, moving like a near-invisible shock-wave of   
compressed air, before finally fading into emptiness. Nothing else happened.  
  
Silence permeated the clearing. Sally's arms drooped to her sides, crestfallen.  
  
"Rote," Sonic began, "Are you sure that-"  
  
A portal soundlessly cleaved space apart, forming into a solid, almost perfectly   
two-dimensional ellipsoid of white light almost seven meters in diameter. A gentle   
breeze kicked up in the clearing. The Freedom Fighters, as one, took several steps   
backward.  
  
"Holy hells," Bookshire muttered.  
  
"That's it!" Sally shouted. "The portal! We did it!"  
  
Rotor took a cautious step inward, circling the portal's disc. "It looks stable   
enough," he said. "I can't believe that it worked the first try."  
  
"That doesn't look like the Void, though," Sonic said, shaking his head. "I   
thought the portal to the Void was all purple and yellow, always violently sucking air   
inward."  
  
"Maybe this is a new version of it," Sally suggested. "This portal certainly isn't   
as noisy." This portal, unlike the Void, made none of the howling noises that Sally had   
grown accustomed to. "I still think that it's the Void."  
  
She took another step closer to it, mindful of the gentle breeze still. Air was still   
being pulled inwards, just not at typhoon-force winds like the gateway to the Void they   
had found only months ago. "I'm going in to check it out," she said resolutely.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, Sal. You mean *we're* going in to check it out."  
  
"It's… it's too risky right now," she said. "I don't want to put both of our lives   
on the line."  
  
"Yeah," Sonic answered crossly, "but I'm worried that without me there, you're   
life *will* be on the line."  
  
She glared back. "I can take care of myself. Look, if I'm not back in 10 minutes,   
you can come in after me."  
  
"All right, but I don't like it," Sonic yielded, staring into the portal. "10 minutes."  
  
Sally turned away from them, stepping closer and closer to the threshold of the   
gateway. The bright white light consumed her vision, and she threw up her arm to cover   
her eyes from the blinding glare. She stepped forward once more.  
  
The fiery white light consumed her body, and she disappeared.  
  
  
*****  
  
The rippling breeze changed direction; it was almost like walking into a large   
building that had an air pressure slightly higher than the outside world. Other than that, it   
felt no different than open air. Sally opened her eyes, meeting the other side of the portal.   
She was still standing in the clearing, the silent portal now behind her. She had just   
walked straight through it, like it was air. She was still in Knothole, and not the Void.  
  
She felt like dropping to her knees, and felt a plaintive, child-like wail build up in   
her throat. She fought it back, but just barely.  
  
Sally turned around, unable to gaze at the burning white glare of the portal. It   
would be like trying to stare into the gaze of a weasely street-side gambler who's trap you   
had fallen for even though, in hindsight, he was obviously a cheat. All the hope she had   
held for that vortex, all the trouble and the risks... all for a lie.  
  
For a while, at least, there had been the hope.  
  
Stifling the lump building up in the back of her throat, she walked back around   
the perimeter of the portal, to where she and the others had been standing before she   
walked into it.  
  
"It didn't work, Rotor. I'm still here... nothing happened."  
  
Sally walked forward, shoulders slumped in defeat. Her eyes were rooted on the   
ground, and her mind so preoccupied that she almost didn't notice when there was no   
answer.  
  
"Sonic? Rotor?" She glanced upwards. Nobody stood in the clearing; off in the   
distance, the huts of Knothole village were silent. "Bookshire?"  
  
Sally planted her hands on her hips. "Sonic, you can come out now." It would be   
just like him to count down ten minutes in the space of two seconds, and come through   
the portal after her... she circled around the portal once more, but there was no sign of   
any of the other Freedom Fighters.  
  
A chilly wind brushed through the clearing, not coming from the glaring portal. It   
was colder out that Sally thought. Her fur rippled. She hugged herself, until the   
momentary gust died down.  
  
"Where the hell are you, Sonic?" Sally asked the air. Only the gentle breeze   
answered. They all couldn't have left this fast, could they? No, she thought, they had to   
be around her somewhere.  
  
"Sonic!" she snapped, kicking the underbrush in frustration. Nobody was hiding   
under it, almost to Sally's chagrin. They had to be somewhere around here.  
  
A knot forming in Sally's stomach told her that all her calls were amounting to   
nothing more than talking to herself.  
  
Still no sign of Sonic, Rotor, or Bookshire. Sonic had the odd habit of   
disappearing at the exact moment that he was needed, but Sally knew in her heart that   
neither Rotor nor Bookshire would leave just as she stepped through the portal. Yet,   
there was no sign of them.  
  
She shivered again, as yet a colder wind kicked up through the trees, caressing the   
grass at her feet. It casually brushed aside her reddish head fur as easily as the reality of   
the past few seconds and tossed aside her hopes, leaving it just a mussed-up mop of hair.   
She didn't bother to correct it.  
  
Get out of here, an impulse from the darkest corner of her mind screamed. The   
voice was muffled by Sally's natural doubt and skepticism, but it still screamed. They   
left you, it shouted.  
  
Sally, spurned by the voice, immediately spun around on her heels and faced   
Knothole. The village was darker than it should have been. Instead of the usual ambient   
glow from the electric lights inside the huts, the moon was the only source of   
illumination. The pale white light cast a surreal glow on the thatched roofs and worn dirt   
paths that weaved their way through the familiar village. There was no sign of life in any   
of the huts.  
  
Sally began moving towards Knothole, past the few scattered huts on the town's   
fringes. She could see no one moving. There was always activity in Knothole, even this   
late.  
  
An overactive imagination had always been one of the banes of Sally's childhood,   
cooking up nightmarish dreams and visions when left unchecked. She hadn't needed to   
deal with it for years, but now she couldn't help but to think about outlandish ways the   
experiment could have gone wrong. What if stepping through the portal had triggered   
some sort of massive energy release - like a neutron bomb - that had killed and vaporized   
everyone in Knothole, leaving only structures intact? It would be exactly the kind of   
devious trap Robotnik would have prepared: let them steal the schematics for a bomb that   
they, in their ignorance, would use to wipe themselves out.  
  
Light flickered at the edge of her vision. Sally shook her head, attempting to clear   
it. Of course nothing that ridiculous had happened. She could even hear soft voices. She   
turned to peer at the light. It wasn't from the electric lights that Rotor had installed with   
the waterwheel. This was the muted orange glow of firelight.  
  
Sally frowned. Thoughts of the light bulbs had reminded her of the waterwheel.   
That was what was missing. For the past year the soft gurgling sound of the village   
waterwheel had been a constant accompaniment to the sounds of the outdoors. Now, it   
was strangely silent. Sally peered towards the stream that ran near the village but   
couldn't make out the lurking shadow of the waterwheel in the darkness.  
  
A door opened nearby, and the voices got louder for an instant. Sally could detect   
Rotor's familiar drawl amongst the crowd before the door shut. A silhouette stood before   
her in the darkness.  
  
"Who's there?" the gloom asked, in Bunnie's familiar southern dialect. Sally let   
out a sigh of relief.  
  
"It's just me, Bunnie," she said. "Have you seen-"  
  
Bunnie cut her off. "Sally-girl, where the fuck have y'all been?"  
  
Sally was so caught off-guard that, at first, she didn't even notice the casual   
swearing. "I've was out with Sonic and the others testing..." Sally trailed off. Flustered,   
she asked, "What did you say?"  
  
Bunnie snorted, again, an uncharacteristic action. Sally's heart started beating   
faster, and she couldn't say why.  
  
Bunnie's hands reached out and grabbed Sally angrily by the shoulders, pulling   
them both into the flickering light cast by the distant fire. Sally saw Bunnie's face for the   
first time, and the only think she could think was, "That's not Bunnie." It was the rabbit's   
face, all right, but it was contorted, forced, into an expression of anger and animosity that   
could never have been born from Bunnie's personality. Her eyes and hear-fur were   
disheveled and unkempt, and in the poor light Sally could just make out a leather jacket   
thrown around her friend's shoulders.  
  
Sally felt herself involuntarily tremble, going into numb shock. This was all   
wrong. She looked down at the hands still rooted to her own shoulders. The two   
*biological* hands.  
  
"Ah said, Sally-girl, where the FUCK have y'all been?" Bunnie spat.  
  
Sally was suddenly terrified beyond the capacity to answer.  
  
Bunnie withdrew her arms, shaking her head, and stormed back into the shadows.   
"Very, very typical, Sally-girl. Ah just hope Ah'm not around when Sonic gets back.   
Y'all should count your lucky stars if he doesn't break your spine right then and there.   
Goin' missin' for three days, and all."  
  
Sally stood there, holding a single hand to her mouth, her own horror forbidding   
her to do anything than other than remain motionless and let the scene play out.  
  
Bunnie shook her head, disgusted, mistaking Sally's silence for the cold shoulder   
treatment. "L'il prissy princess. Y'all can sort this out on yer own." Bunnie retreated to   
the hut she had emerged from, and slammed the door shut behind her.  
  
Sally stood between the darkened huts, alone, unable to keep herself from   
trembling. She cast a glance back towards the distant glowing discus of the portal. It   
was still there, wide mouth yawning temptingly. What remained of Sally's scientific   
mind had immediately known, since she had first seen Bunnie in the firelight, that wasn't   
in her Knothole. Some kind of...  
  
Slowly, she reached down to unclip Nicole from her boot, and flipped the   
microcomputer open. Even the computer seemed daunted by the unreality of their   
current environs; it didn't even react to being opened.  
  
"Nicole, hypothesize," she said, confident that Nicole would be able to figure out   
what she was asking for. She was secretly ashamed of how much her voice cracked. But   
just seeing someone so changed...  
  
"UNABLE," Nicole replied, monotone calm as always, "MORE DATA REQUIRED."  
  
Sally swallowed, and tried to control her voice this time. "Just give me whatever   
solid facts that you can."  
  
"WE ARE NOT IN THE VOID, SALLY."  
  
"Thanks for the information," Sally grumbled, slipping Nicole back into her boot.   
She stared back at the open portal, but then turned away from it. Upon later recollection,   
she didn't know what made her want to press further on into the village. All she   
remembered was pressing one boot in front of the other, to move into Knothole.  
  
She made two steps forward, and then stumbled.  
  
A structure that Sally had never seen before, one that was apparently unique to   
this distorted version of Knothole, stood in the center of the town. Several huts had   
blocked it from view when she walked into town, but Bunnie had taken her around a   
corner when she had grabbed her. It was sitting in plain sight.  
  
Sally's eyes had adjusted to the sparse moonlight enough to make out its basic   
shape. A platform stood in the open ground, and several wooden structures, shaped like   
an inverted, upside-down L, stood at the edge of the stage. A stench that curdled Sally's   
blood drifted away from it.  
  
It was a gallows.  
  
The structure itself was very indistinct, but there was a sign nailed to the ground   
closer to the source of the firelight. Some of it was just readable in the gloom.  
  
"By order of Sonic Hedgehog," Sally read, wanting to rip her eyes away from the   
sign. "Traitor executed in the name of the resistance, for attempting," she swallowed, "to   
betray us to the False King Maximillion Acorn." A date was listed: Sally recognized it as   
three weeks ago.  
  
She glanced back up at the gallows, hoping what she had seen earlier hadn't only   
been her imagination. Hoping with a desperation she had never felt before.  
  
The dark shape still hung from one of the cross beams, a rope strung around its   
neck. It was completely still.  
  
Sally stared, horrified, into the open eyes on the rotting corpse of Bookshire   
Draftwood.  
  
The voice at the back of her mind was still screaming. Now, it was the only   
voice. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself rushing back to the   
clearing, back to the still-open portal. What she was running to wasn't as important was   
what she was running *from*.  
  
  
  
  



End file.
